Saturn
History First colonized in the year 2498, Saturn was the second planet to be occupied by the White Regime and the first successful planetary settlement. It was initally settled as a grain producer - however, once it was discovered that most of the surface of the planet was made of solid rock, and thus, entirely unsuitable for agriculture, the operations moved inside the planet. The White Regime was unwilling to admit another failure after Mars, so they poured resources and labor into the project, offering the citizens of Earth large amounts of money to settle the darkened planet. Once word got out that the planet was to be used as a farming planet, a great number of individuals who were in the business of illegal drugs decided to settle the planet, taking advantage of the money, along with the farmers that had decided to settle for the promise of the new start. Most of the criminals had been shipped to Mars with the initial decision of the White Regime to use it as a 'dump planet,' so there was very little crime in the beginning of the settlement. To the surprise of most of those involved, the planet flourished, despite the residents having little to no contact with the surface of their world. In the beginning of Saturn's colonization, the people who had settled there still had a culture that was very much like that of Earth. During the inital settlement, the designers of the 'liveable portion of the planet' installed a variety of lamps that burned on a scentless, fumeless gas. In the beginning, this way of living was okay; until the drug cartels started. The lamps ran out of oil, and to prevent the Regime from discovering the cartels, the citizens of the planet began to search for alternate substances to fuel the lamps. They finally settled on an oil made of grain, which they could make a great deal of without needing the constant shipments from Earth. Unfortunatley, this oil wasn't scentless or fumeless, so after just days, the whole of Saturn reeked of grain oil and the air was nearly impossible to breath due to the fumes. Gradually, the whole of Saturn turned off their lamps, submitting to the darkness in their new homes. After mere years, the people became almost entirely cave-dwelling, very rarely ever venturing to the top-side of their world. They remained inside their tunnels, and thus, their eyes began to adjust (with the assistance of genetic altering, on top of natural happenings) to the low amounts of light that the lanterns provided, gradually dwindling the amount of visible light down to nothing. They became dark creatures, with entirely noctural vision. The unfortunate side affect to the future generations would be their inability to function in the daylight hours off of their own planet. Because of their ability to function in pitch blackness, Saturnians are well known for having exceptional senses. Over the years they've become a very physical race. (see Appearance and Genetics) It didn't take long for the people of the planet to develop complex drug cartels, due to the fact that they had very little government. This led to a great amount of secrecy that still permeates the planet. The system of irrigation and how the plants grow with no life are still a mystery to nearly all those who are not citizens of Saturn; they prefer to keep their methods to themselves, lest someone find something about their cartels. The rings surrounding the exterior of their planet are also a mystery. The people themselves are very anti-social, perferring to stay to their own people and while they don't turn outsiders away, they're not exaclty welcomed. Interplanetary Relations Saturn is most certainly not on the list of places in the galaxy to visit. It's considered the second-worst planet in the system, mainly because of the high amount of drug use and the constant blackness. They have little to do with anything outside their own business, and only the extremely intelligent or those with connections ever manage to get off of the 'dark world.' It is mentioned very briefly in history classes around the galaxy, but nothing is ever mentioned save they produce grains and they've gone 'day-blind' over the centuries. There is a great amount of racism against Saturnians; this is partially because of, again, the drug use, and partially because they look like creatures from historic horror pictures on Earth. Children cry when they see them. Despite the high number of people who dislike Saturnians, however, more dislike Martians, so there's not much that can be said about it. Abilities and Environment Since the days on Saturn are a mere 10 hours and 39 minutes long, completely adapting to the darkness has become a valuable asset to the lifestyle on Saturn. The seasons on Saturn are also much longer, since it takes Saturn 29.5 Earth years to complete one year of their own. The seasons change so slowly that it's rarely noticed by either those who have lived their for decades or the younger generations. Saturnians can see in complete darkness. They have, over time, developed a complex design for a pair of goggles that improves their day time vision, though it still causes them great discomfort to be in daylight, as well as serious pains (on occasions, actual burns on and inside their eyes) to look at the sun. Language Saturnian is a very complex language with many simple words. There are a great many of the words that, despite sounding the same to the untrained ear, vary just slightly in tone, and thus, mean entirely different words. The word 'Zo,' for example, depending on which of the seven possible ways you say it, can mean 'grain,' 'foot,' 'sun,' 'sleep,' 'boat,' or 'light.' There are sometimes multiple words with the same meanings, as well. The predominant word order in Saturnian is SVO (subject–verb–object), but word order is quite interchangable, with VSO and other orders as commonly used alternatives. Within the noun phrase, adjectives come before the noun (for example, zix kilw (literally translated to 'the big house'), while possessors follow it (for example, wo, 'my house'). The opposite order is possible as a marked alternative in both cases. Saturnian is a pro-drop language, i.e. instead of repeating wo (my house) each time it is mentioned, the speaker would say it. If mentioning a woman, the name would be given the first time, and from then on, unless clarification was needed, 'the woman' would be reffered to as 'she.' While Saturnian is a language made mainly on small words with many meanings, certain grammatical elements attach to the verb, are unstressed, and form a rigidly ordered group together with it. This applies particularly to unstressed object pronouns, negation particles, the tense particle bo ('-ed'), and the subjunctive particle tx ('on/in'). Likewise, possessive pronouns are not stressed when they're attached to the nouns they modify. Saturnian conjugations are simple: attach the proper ending to the end of the verb you're modifying, i.e. [hxq'wo'] (I will go) [hxq'vo'] (I am going) [hxqw'px'] (I can go) [hxq'to'] (I went). Culture and Customs Celebrations Saturnian celebrations are considered a topic of much interest to those who study the dark planet. Since there isn't much tourism to Saturn, most people don't know anything about the seemingly random celebrations that happen at various points throughout the year. To be honest, there are very few celebrations that have any meaning. There are three ceremonies every 29.5 Earth years. The first is the anniversary of the colonization of Saturn. On this day, there's basically no work done at all; people lay around and get high for the whole day instead of just most of it. On this day, it's actually almost a yearly problem that teenagers, in their stupor and excitement over this day, get totally lost in the oldest of tunnels and disappear. The second, the Day of Gathering, is a 34 hour long festival that is done before the biggest harvest of the year. Saturnians spend the whole 34 hours in religious ceremonies, and this is the one day a year that drugs are not used by the majority of the planet. The third, and most important to the Saturnian way of life, is the Day of Light. As absurd as it sounds, on that one day of the cycle, the lamps that burned in the beginning of the history of the planet are re-lit, so that the people remember why they were turned off in the first place. Religion Religion on the planet of Saturn is quite a mystery. It has morphed and changed over the centuries, and now, has become something similar to a cult. The ceremonies are fufilled in thick robes, with Gregorian-style chanting by a great number of people. They, as a collective, worship a female deity that they call 'Qxili,' which is loosley translated into 'The Bright Light.' Why a society of dark shadows would worship a light is beyond the capacity of most - thus, a very select few outsiders have ever seen these services in action. The Rift In recent generations, there has been a major shift in both mannerisms and styles. In the past twenty years or so, there has been a change in the attitude of the youth of Saturn - they're more involved with the drug cartels and partying more than they ever have been before. Due to this, there's been increasing tension and mounting differences between the youth and those that are forced to pick up the slack. The most obvious sign of this rift between generations is the style differentiations. Those in the 'elder' category of this seperation continue with the thick, heavy cloaks and robes of the traditional Saturnian settlement. The 'youth' category has developed their own particular style, which is extremely similar to the 'steampunk' style of the old times. Customs and Marriage There are a few customs on Saturn that have survived even through the dark, but there are few that actually have any impact on the lives of the citizens - mainly, those involving marriage. In the richer families, arranged marriages are not only acceptable, but perferred. Marrying for love on Saturn is usually a very lucky buisness... Either you pay people off or have someone in one of the cartels that wants some extra money take care of your problem. Other customs mainly involve buisness. In a formal Saturnian meeting, it's considered impolite to shake someone's hand. Instead, there's a formal bow from the waste, and it you go less than 45 degrees, it's considered an insult. Visiting Saturn For those that want to visit the rather inhospitiable planet, there are very few places that are available to be occupied for any amount of time. The best plan of action is to have a Saturnian companion that is willing to house you with their families for a short amount of time. The second best plan is to visit one of the very few Jovian military bases - they're easy to find because they're constantly alight. There are a few rooms in these facilities for when tourists or Regime officials need to stay more than a few hours. Demographics At the time of this record, in January of the year 3571, there were approximately 2,523,000 known Saturnians that lived beneath the planet in a variety of settlements spread out through the tunnels. There was a total of 512 Saturnians that lived on a planet other than their own, mainly inhabiting either Pluto or Earth. The ration of males to females was 51:43, and the average age was 46. Appearance and Genetics Over the course of the past several dozen generations, the appearance of Saturnians has drastically changed. In the first few generations, the people of Saturn looked very much like the residents of most of the inner planets, just paler. However, as the natural selection process kicked in and those that weren't fit to inhabit the tunnels abandoned them, a general look came about to the Saturnians that remained and thus passed to their future generations; slender, bony, between short to medium height. Lack of exposure to sunlight gradually turned all of the pigments in their skin entirely white. At some point the hair pigments turned mainly black, leaving them with a very monochromatic appearance. Over the centuries, Saturnians have been noted to have exceptional senses; mainly, their sense of touch and feeling being far more developed that that of a majority of the other races. Over all the most noticable part of a Saturnian's body is their eyes. Lack of light exposure for nearly 1000 years has left the people of Saturn with entirely black eyes. Over time, the pupils of their eyes were lost into the 'whites' (that had gradually turned black), the irises turning black as well. This gives the Saturnian people a very 'creepy' appearance, according to the classifications of the other planets. Generally, Saturnian males are either slender and wiry or have a medium build and decent muscle mass. There are those few who are closely tied to the drug lords that have excess body fat, but as a general rule, most Saturnians are healthy. Females, as with most species, are generally smaller than the males. Saturnian women are known for being unextrordinary - small bosom, very little curve, etc. As a generalization, Saturnians have wide faces, thin noses, and large eyes. Category:Planets Category:Planets